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The crowds that have gathered around Edinburgh Castle in Scotland on New Year's Eve see a meteorite of some sort crash to Earth. It is not a meteorite but a robot who stakes claim to the planet as the property of the Robot Amalgamation because he is the first victorious visitor to set foot on the world as a New Year dawns...

Twenty four hours earlier the Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams were aboard a planetoid, captured by robots of the Robot Amalgamation, and had their minds read by a neural digitiser. The Doctor had instructed Amy and Rory to think of their happiest memories. Unfortunately, the robots learnt about the Scottish New Year tradition of "First Footing", whereby the first visitor to your home can claim a welcome gift — and the gift the robot planned to claim was the planet itself. But puzzled as to why the robot could not read the Doctor's thoughts, the robot accepts the Doctor's challenge to win the planet. If the Doctor loses, all his secrets, his memories and knowledge he will willingly give up, making the robots all powerful.

Back on Earth, on New Year's Eve, as the robot staked his claim to the planet, the Doctor, Amy and Rory (having travelled in the TARDIS) have been experiencing New Year party's on Earth for the last 12 hours. The robot's home world, Robotica, has only one digital change of time across the planet and concedes defeat. In consolation, the Doctor offers the robot his gift of fireworks.